Limited resources, big dreams? Lean management can be your secret weapon. This approach helps small businesses eliminate waste and streamline processes, boosting productivity and customer satisfaction.
Get ready to see growth – tune in this week’s Let’s Talk as our experts unpack lean techniques for small businesses.
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Renée Chaplin, VP – Asia Pacific at Constant Contact
“For most small businesses, adopting lean management techniques is a necessity. Between legal, admin, accounting, marketing and front-line duties, SMBs are spread thin.
“The challenge many SMB owners/operators face is finding the means to increase profitability without compromising time. To do so, it’s important to focus on strengths and fill the gaps by seeking external support for time-consuming tasks or those outside their areas of expertise.
“Previously, outsourcing has been far too costly for small businesses. But modern technology has paved the way for more affordable and cost-effective ways to get help. Online-only offerings, artificial intelligence and other technologies are coming to the fore, and aren’t attached to hefty price tags either.
“Take marketing: it’s critical to a business’ ability to grow and instill customer loyalty – but few small businesses can afford agency fees or have the time to create a marketing plan. Not surprisingly, it’s the part of the job they put off the most. Constant Contact recently surveyed SMBs across Australia, the US, the UK and Canada, and found that marketing is the most likely activity SMBs will delay undertaking, with 59 per cent of Australian SMBs always or regularly procrastinating on marketing activities; the most among polled regions.
“But now, AI-driven marketing tools built specifically for small businesses are becoming affordable for SMBs of any budget allowing them to stay lean. And importantly, these advances in tech are filling the marketing expertise gap leading to more action and less procrastination.”
Brett Newstead, Director of Sales at Zebra Technologies
“In today’s competitive landscape, small businesses must adopt lean management techniques to stay ahead. Zebra’s recent 2024 Manufacturing Vision Study highlights the increasing reliance on AI and digital transformation, with 68% of APAC manufacturers expecting AI to drive growth by 2029.
“Small businesses can leverage similar strategies to enhance efficiency and reduce waste. Implementing real-time visibility tools allows for better resource allocation and quicker response to issues. Additionally, the study shows that 75% of APAC leaders plan to augment their workforce with mobility-enabling technology, a tactic that businesses can replicate in different areas to boost productivity without significant investment.
“Emphasising continuous improvement, like the adoption of machine vision and robotics in larger firms, can streamline operations and improve quality. By focusing on data-driven decisions and employee empowerment, small businesses can achieve leaner operations, reduce costs, and enhance customer satisfaction.”
David Price, CEO at Peninsula Australia and Peninsula New Zealand
“The last few years have been tough for Australian businesses. The rising cost of doing business, massive layoffs and widespread closures have left few industries unscathed. But even in difficult times, there are opportunities for growth – if you manage your business carefully and with the future in mind.
“A common mistake small businesses make is expanding without strong foundations to scale, growing their business without having the right resources or tools in place.
“For example, processes and software that work for a team of five may not be suitable for 30 people. As anyone who has run their own business knows, replacing or upgrading software can be extremely time-consuming and expensive.
“Auditing your current toolset will reveal whether you’re using effective, enterprise-grade software for your business. It’s also worth looking for software that can be integrated into a wider suite holistically. This way, you’ll be able to have a central source of truth rather than needing to jump around from program to program, and potentially causing errors down the line.
“By considering how you can scale your business ahead of time and managing it with a longer-term outlook in mind, your chances of achieving lasting success increase.”
Karen Taylor, Managing Director at Kx2 Management Group
“SMEs make up around 80% of employers, so they must operate effectively to remain competitive in an increasingly digitised economy. However, with a proliferation of options available for businesses, and exponential growth in SAAS platforms and app development, there is far too much choice. Worse, no one system does everything. Too many systems do things that aren’t needed or used.
“To avoid wasting time and money on systems that don’t deliver an agnostic approach is required. This lean thinking focuses on what’s best for the company, not what’s possible with the technology.
“The first step to achieve this is to overcome the fear of change and stop asking ‘Why can’t we keep doing it the way it’s always been done’ or worrying that ‘The team won’t like change’.
“The next step is to amalgamate the options and assess them for the outcomes they can deliver, then weeding out any interpersonal dynamics and politics, deeper concerns and fears that may manifest as resistant or obstructive behaviours from the team.”
Derek Laney, Technology Evangelist, Salesforce APAC
“Implementing current generative AI tools can give SMB leaders the means to deliver new efficiencies and optimisation across their business. If done in a trusted, strategic manner, it will help their workers and empower a greater focus on core business functions. This is echoed by over 60% of SMB desk workers, who, in our recent research, agreed generative AI could help them serve customers better.
“Slack AI was designed with this in mind, allowing businesses of all sizes to save time and boost productivity, streamline tasks, and provide personalised customer experiences. For instance, project managers can quickly get up to speed on ongoing projects with summarisation features, and customer service representatives can find answers faster with Slack AI’s search, providing more accurate responses and therefore enhancing customer satisfaction and trust.
“Integrating AI into daily processes not only brings significant time savings and optimises operations, but also strategically positions companies for sustainable growth regardless of their size. Additionally, it can be a great tool for fostering an innovative and collaborative environment that leans into each employees unique strengths. This can transform team productivity, and foster business growth in a digital era.”
Angus Stevens, Co-Founder at Start Beyond
“For small businesses, lean management techniques provide powerful tools to streamline operations, reduce waste, and enhance overall efficiency.
“Identify the shared common goal as well as establishing individual agency. Mapping your value stream allows you to ensure that roles and responsibilities are clearly defined for every team member, and that they understand how they fit into the grand plan. Provide clarity around what success looks like for them, but also how it ties into the broader success of the business.
“Respect your team. Empower them to take ownership of their job and have autonomy over what they do. Your team should understand the purpose of every stage in your processes and how each contributes to the end result.
“To make this work you need to be able to check in about where you are. There’s a bunch of software that can help with this. We do a mix of weekly team meetings, WIPs, daily stand ups and milestone meetings with key stakeholders. What this means is, that between our team and our clients, we have clear lines of communication around objectives, progress, and timeframes, as well as determining what is necessary to the operations of the business, where attention is needed, and how we can look to improve processes.”
Jennifer McKennariey, Founder/CEO at Dynamic Capabilities Consulting
“In today’s competitive landscape, small businesses must leverage every opportunity to enhance efficiency and reduce waste. Lean management techniques offer a proven, structured and approachable pathway to achieving these goals, even for businesses with limited resources.
“The core to lean management is maximising value while minimising waste. For small businesses, this begins with understanding customer needs and aligning processes to meet those needs efficiently. Start by mapping out your value stream – the series of steps that deliver your product or service to the customer. Identify and eliminate any steps that do not add value.
“Implementing a continuous improvement culture is crucial. Encourage your team to identify inefficiencies and suggest improvements. Small, incremental changes can lead to significant gains over time. Techniques like the 5S system – Sort, Set in order, Shine, Standardise, Sustain – help maintain an organised and efficient workspace, reducing downtime and errors.
“Leveraging technology can streamline operations. Automate repetitive tasks and utilise software tools for project management and communication to keep everyone aligned and focused on value-adding activities.
“Through adoption of lean management principles, small businesses can not only cut costs but also improve quality and customer satisfaction, setting the foundations for sustainable growth in a challenging market.”
Konstantin Klyagin, Founder of Redwerk
“Lean management is all about minimizing wasteful processes, preventing bottlenecks, and continuous improvement – all to deliver maximum value to customers. While lean offers a diverse toolkit, Kanban and Kaizen are two powerful methods we at Redwerk use and recommend to small businesses.
“In simple terms, Kanban is a visual system for managing work. It uses cards to represent tasks and limits the amount of work in progress to prevent bottlenecks. For example, a Kanban board can be divided into columns like To Do, In Progress, Waiting for Feedback, and Done. This helps instantly see if employees take on new tasks without finishing older ones.
“Setting work-in-progress limits ensures our developers focus on a restricted amount of tasks at a time, preventing context switching and delays. This translates to faster completion times and a more efficient workflow.
“Kaizen, meaning “continuous improvement” in Japanese, is another core lean principle. It encourages employees to constantly look for ways to improve their work. One way to nurture a culture of Kaizen is to enable and welcome idea exchange from bottom up. We also practice regular customer development interviews to ensure we continuously grow and learn. At these meetings, we try to understand what success looks like for our customers, what problems we’ve already solved for them, and what needs improvement.
“Kanban and Kaizen’s simplicity and scalability make them ideal for small businesses seeking to streamline operations and maximize customer value.”
Christopher Telley, Brand Builder, Founder of HeyRCG!
“In the world of small business, lean management isn’t just a buzzword—it’s a game-changer. Lean management focuses on maximising value by minimising waste, which is crucial for small businesses aiming to streamline operations and boost profitability.
“Techniques like value stream mapping help identify and eliminate activities that don’t add value, while the 5S system (Sort, Set in order, Shine, Standardise, Sustain) keeps your workspace organised and efficient. Staying lean also demands a hyper-focus on your P&L (Profit and Loss) statement. Tracking costs against your budget is crucial, but it’s surprising how quickly focus can slip, leading to unexpected cost blowouts.
“Embracing lean management means fostering a culture of continuous improvement, where every team member is empowered and encouraged to contribute to process enhancements. This approach not only reduces costs but also delivers greater value to customers, setting the stage for sustainable growth.”
Narendra Shukla, Director – Consulting Services at Edwise Consulting
“Bringing lean management approach to business can significantly help in enhancing efficiency, reduce wastage, and uplift customer value. Lean management approach promotes cost saving, focus on continuous improvement and bestows ability to adapt to the changing business environment.
“At its centre, lean approach to management emphasises value creation for the customers, using fewer resources, and here is how small business can use some of the tools and frameworks to attain and sustain lean management.
- Improve processes and eliminate waste by mapping business processes to identify areas in your business where most value is created for your customers.
- Implement ADKAR principles to attain workplace efficiencies, sustain changes and promote collaboration to drive enhanced employee satisfaction.
- Encourage employees to share ideas and use their collective intelligence to maximise the business value by adapting to continuous improvements, and implementing small and incremental changes.
- Simplify inventory cost through ‘Just-in-time’ approach to receive goods only when they needed.
- Visualise and streamline workflow to track projects, and operational work to drive productivity, balance demand and plan capacity requirements.
“Small business can gain greater benefits by adapting to lean management approaches in terms of improved productivity, reduced expanses, improved product quality and enhanced customer experience.”
Elise Balsillie, Head of Thryv Australia
“There are approximately 2.6 million businesses in Australia. The vast majority of these (97%) have fewer than 20 employees – which the ABS defines as a small business.
“Small business owners often need to strike a fine balance on how lean to go with their operations. Running your small business cost effectively is paramount, particularly in the challenging cost-of-living crisis. That said, cutting back too much can leave a small business vulnerable and unable to scale when business booms.
“Adopting some lean techniques can make a significant difference to your operations.
“Step outside your business and review customer experience.
One of the best ways to adopt the principle of lean management is to look at your business from your customers’ perspective. With rising customer expectations, could your customer experience be optimised?
If the answer is yes, I recommend considering adopting customer management software (CMS). A CMS will capture customer data and automate tasks like communications and workflows.
“Automate marketing processes
Putting your marketing on autopilot can also help to save time. Review where your marketing requires manual input and consider using software to reduce any time-consuming processes.
Marketing software can automate email journeys, capture leads through templated forms and landing pages and offer analytics to help you make data-driven decisions – all while integrating with your CRM.
By implementing automation and putting lean management techniques in place, small business owners will be able to cut costs while seeing growth and in the current economic environment, that’s a win-win.”
Bill Withers, entrepreneur, SME business strategist and author of Succession Thinking
“Many business owners are attracted to Lean because it promises to remove waste, which we equate with cost, and increase flow, which is often connected to increasing revenue. They can miss the fundamental principle of Lean – respect for people. Treating your team with respect can require patience, understanding and humility, qualities that can be hard to find in frantic and under-resourced work places. With a ‘succession thinking’ mindset, leaders focus on empowering leadership beyond themselves, embedding a culture that doesn’t only depend on them and documenting their way of doing business. With this clarity, people are empowered to do their work with the autonomy and clear process most of us need and desire.”
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